Artist, Teaching Artist
Visual
Contact: Larry Walczak
Phone: (814) 520-8086
Address:
535 W. 2nd Street
Erie, PA 16507
As an award winning art educator I bring decades of experience to a classroom or community setting. I have expertise in several areas of two-dimensional visual art including painting, drawing, mixed media, alternative photography, book making, illustration and advertising. My recent teaching experience in Brooklyn included teaching groups of students, seniors and community groups in Hispanic, Chinese, Caribbean, Jewish, Polish, African-American & Italian neighborhoods. Additionally, I instructed in the boroughs of Manhattan & the Bronx with two residencies in Harlem. Locally I was an "Artist-In-Community" at the John F. Kennedy Center for two years and taught at the Martin Luther King Center.
I have a passion for teaching and enjoy working with participants of all age groups. Each group of students has its own personality. My aim is to bring relevance to the curriculum or projects we are focusing on. I engage my students by identifying with the "world" they are currently living in. That is, the music, movies, television shows and fashion they are currently interested in. I incorporate such reference points in lesson instruction to give meaningful content to our projects. In each session to either students or seniors I emphasize creative decision making through hands-on learning. Consequently this overlaps into other areas of discovery. I value process over product in the learning process. I identify personal experience as a point of departure in the projects we share. We live in a visual landscape so it is imperative we come to understand visual language in our daily lives.
During my residency I will initiate an understanding about the curriculum or project(s) participants are currently involved with. It is my belief that the incorporation of visual art can enhance the depth of our final accomplishments.
